Characteristics of 2009 L’Aquila earthquake with an emphasis on earthquake prediction and geotechnical damage

Journal of The School of Marine Science and Technology,Vol.7 No.3

Omer AYDAN, Halil KUMSAR, Selcuk TOPRAK and Giovanni BARLA

	Abstract

	The 2009 L’Aquila earthquake with moment magnitude Mw 6.3 occurred in the Abruzzi Region in Central Italy.The earthquake caused the loss of 294 lives and the casualties were particularly heavy in the old city of L’Aquila. The authors have readily investigated the damages due to this earthquake,which was caused by a normal fault with the heavily damaged part being on the hanging-wall side of the causative fault. Approximately 2 weeks before the earthquake, a technician involved with radon monitoring warned that an earthquake will strike the region and this claim was dismissed by the authorities who were heavily questioned by the Italian and International mass media.This article describes the scientific and engineering aspects of the earthquake with emphasis on earthquake prediction and geotechnical damage.Furthermore,the main causes of the heavy structural damage as well as the prediction of the earthquake are discussed.The close inspection of prediction claims indicated that prediction did not really satisfy the requirements for earthquake prediction. The causes of the heavy damage were low seismic resistance of structures and lack of implementation of modern seismic design codes.